Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Haggard.
Hi Leah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
During my experience training pre-professionally in ballet and an 11 year career dancing professionally around the country, I reflected on the lack of support I had in supporting my body nutritionally to perform at my best. Not only was I underfueling during the early part of my career because of the nutrition advice I had been given, but I did not have a positive relationship with food and with my body. During the pandemic, I went back to school for my master’s degree in nutrition, completed my 1,000 hours of supervision, and became a licensed nutritionist all while dancing professionally. I saw how my performance and relationship food changed as I learned more about fueling my body from my education and clinical experience. Now in clinical practice, I love working with clients in the areas of mental health, eating behavior, eating disorders, and sports nutrition.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In my dance career, I experienced many of the negative repercussions from underfueling – frequent injuries, fatigue, poor relationship with food and my body, and mental health struggles. But, my experience is what inspired me to become a clinical nutritionist. While I was completing my master’s degree and clinical internship and starting in private practice, I was dancing professionally. This was such a fun, but also chaotic time juggling two intense professions simultaneously. There were many days where I would be running to and from the dance studio to my home office, juggling school work while at the theater, and even taking my board exam the morning after a big weekend of performances.
My career in dance and in nutrition are intertwined. The difficulties I faced in my dance career has now helped me in supporting clients through both empathy and empowerment.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In clinical practice, I work with clients through Nutrition Hive, a functional nutrition practice that serves clients all over the country. Under my own LLC, What Fuels a Dancer, I provide nutrition education to dancers and staff in dance organizations.
My niche is supporting dancers and other aesthetic athletes in fueling their bodies for their demanding careers. More broadly, my specialties are providing medical nutrition therapy for disordered eating, eating disorders, mental health and athletics. A weight-inclusive, non-dieting approach to nutrition is foundational to my practice. I enjoy coming up with out of the box ways to support clients on their health journey, whether it be through games, drawing, experiments, recipe searching, and crafts to help make food fun and accessable. I want my clients to feel empowered in fueling their bodies and minds.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Individuals can work with me 1:1 through Nutrition Hive: https://www.nutritionhive.health/
For nutrition education for dancers or athletes, people can email me at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nutritionhive.health/ and https://whatfuelsadancer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatfuelsadancer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatfuelsadancer/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-haggard-ms-cns-ldn-31574676
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatfuelsadancer778
Image Credits
For dancing photo:
Image by RayNard Imagemaker
Courtesy of Deos Contemporary Ballet
Choreography by Tess Sinke
